America’s favorite past-time…baseball. I remember being five years old on vacation in Cape Cod. My father had bought me a Seattle Mariners cap to wear so I wouldn’t get hit by the sun. The design on the cap encapsulated me; I had no idea what I was wearing or what sport this was, but I thought it was the coolest design ever.
Flash forward to my 20s and that love of MLB memorabilia has stuck with me; from vintage jerseys to jackets and caps, MLB memorabilia and merchandise will always have a special place in my heart. I’m sure many other fans of the MLB would feel the same way; just look at hip-hop in the early 2000s, you weren’t considered “cool” unless you’re clothes were three sizes too big and you were rocking a throwback jersey; preferably from the NFL or MLB.
The merchandise and the uniforms have always appealed to the fans, but what about the game itself. It seems more and more that nowadays people are veering less from watching baseball games, and how can you blame them. With the rise of the internet, social media, and instant gratification, our attention spans have shrunk to the size of a pea. How do you want this new generation of youth (I’ll include myself in there) to want to sit through a 3-hour baseball game? It’s just unreasonable to expect that quite honestly.
I recently came across this great quote the other day by Albert Einstein that read, “Life is like a bicycle, the only way to not fall off is to keep moving”. As the years go by, you need to adapt, change, and grow, that’s all part of this funny thing we call life. The MLB must do the same. The game is simply too slow. I’m not gonna sit here and write that I have all the answers, because honestly, I don’t. I don’t take in enough baseball to have a concrete answer as to how we would be able to fix it. All I know is that the times when nothing was on TV and I came across a baseball game, I watched for about two minutes until I got bored, turned the television off, and went to do something else.
The game is experienced much different in person, but even then, it’s not the most exciting sport you can take in. With the MLB lockout still at a standstill, fans are growing more and more impatient. In order to get their attention back when the lockout does end, here are some nifty little ideas the MLB can implement to gain more younger viewers and broaden the reach of the MLB.
Shorten the Regular Season
Do we really need all 162 regular-season games? What would be wrong with a team playing, let’s say, 140 instead, or 120. Why do we have to drag the season out so long? I’ve seen teams already lose out on a playoff spot 90 games into the season, and they had to keep playing another 72 games as the league’s worst team, putting out poor performances night after night. It’s just embarrassing.
The best part about the MLB is the playoffs. Shorten the regular season so we can get to the playoffs quicker…and speaking of playoffs!
Include More Teams in the Playoffs
I’ve seen many amazing teams not make the MLB playoffs because they were in an absolutely stacked division. I’ve seen other teams that we’re not so good at make it in and bow out in the first round. This is a huge miss as we are missing a competitive war in the playoffs, as opposed two one superior team completely trouncing an inferior team.
I read this great article by Geoff Ratliff from 2012 where he had this amazing idea for the MLB to “include six teams from each league as well as three wild card teams”. Ratliff also goes on to suggest that the first-placed teams get a first-round bye and that the first series of the playoffs is a best-of-three series.
This would help speed things up, as well as make the playoffs even more interesting than they already are.
Market Your Stars to the Youth
The simple fact of the matter is that the MLB is losing its grip on the youth. With leagues like the NFL and NBA constantly marketing their star players, it’s no wonder that those sports have been gaining more traction among the youth.
The MLB needs to do a better job of marketing its players because A) they deserve it, and B) more people should be getting into baseball because it is a lovely sport to play and be part of a team on. My message to kids across the United States is to cherish what you have because as a Montreal native, I long for the day the MLB brings back the Montreal Expos. The saying “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone” rings true now more than ever in Montreal.
What do you think the MLB can do to fix baseball? Let me know in the comments below!